A Copper Flower
by Sweet Sassy Sarah
Summary: It all begins with a copper flower. TrisxOC. Sequel to Spun on a Storm. Complete as of 12-11-08. R&R please!
1. Hunter

**A/N: Hi guys! So, I've decided to put this up again. I'll warn you now that updates will be few and far between. I'm sorry about this, but that's just the way it is! Please give this story love, and if you have any suggestions for anything, please review! Thanks! This chapter, by the way, is the epilogue to Talia and the first chapter of ACF. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I'm not TP.

**Epilogue: Six months later**

Tris was sitting at the window of her room on the top floor of the Cheeseman Street house, her face turned toward the wind.

The visions she was seeing were of everyday life. A small child playing in the dusty street, a woman hanging clothes on a line in her yard, someone handing over coins to pay for a loaf of bread. A man and wife kissing each other goodbye before they parted for the day.

A breeze from closer to home brought her the image of two figures in a garden. The man helped the woman up and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her. They pulled apart after a second and laughed together.

Tris sighed and tried to move on to the next breeze. More meaningless activities. She stared out her window until her head ached and she was getting dizzy.

"Tris!" Talia called.

"What?" Tris called back.

"Come down here a minute."

"Why?"

_Coppercurls, come on,_ Briar called through their connection. _Just come downstairs. What's it going to hurt?_

Tris rolled her eyes and jammed her spectacles up her nose. She shoved away from the window and began the descent down the stairs. When she got down there, she followed the voices of Briar and Talia to the kitchen.

They were sitting at the table with someone Tris had never seen before. He was facing away from her, so all she could see of him was his messy dark brown hair. He turned when Tris entered the room, and flashed a grin in her direction. His dark green eyes were twinkling at her.

Tris raised an eyebrow. "I'm here. What was so important?"

"I just wanted you to meet a friend of mine," Talia said. "He's a smith mage. I've met him with Daja a few times."

"Well, nice to meet you, smith mage friend of Talia and Daja's," Tris said, nodding her head. She was about to turn around and go back up to her room, but something stopped her.

He continued to smile at her, even as he spoke. "It's Hunter." He held out his hand for Tris to shake.

As their palms touched, Tris felt a swirl of electricity and heat flare between them. She narrowed her eyes and took her hand from his, subtly wiping it on her skirts. She could still feel the fizz of the spark of fire on her hand, and wasn't sure if she liked it or not. "Tris."

xXx

"So what do you think of him?" Talia asked a while later. She twisted the gold ring on her left hand, a reminder of the vows she and Briar had made to each other a month before.

"Of who?"

"Hunter! Honestly, Tris, you'd think you were blind or something."

"What about him?" Tris asked, deliberately trying to get on Talia's nerves.

"What do you think of him?"

"What should I think of him?"

Talia rolled her eyes. "Come on, Tris. Give me something to work with."

"Why did you introduce us, Talia?" Tris asked impatiently.

"He was just here," Talia said, looking away from her friend.

"Uh huh. You didn't have to call me down to meet him, though."

Talia bit her lip and looked around the room as if it would give her the answer she was looking for. "You seem lonely sometimes, Tris," she began. Tris cut her off after this sentence was out in the open.

"Lonely? When I'm living in a house with three other mages and a glass dragon?" She snorted a laugh. "Lonely isn't even a word in my vocabulary."

"That would be nice, if it were true," Talia said quietly.

Tris glanced at her sharply. "Excuse me?"

Talia shrugged. "I don't know. You've seemed distant lately. Ever since Briar and I…" she trailed off and started twisting her ring again.

"So you're trying to find someone who will 'lift my spirits'?" Tris asked. Her anger was past now. She actually found this a little bit funny now, in a backwards sort of way.

"Not exactly. I mean, I just thought that you would enjoy meeting someone new for a change." Talia looked Tris straight in the eye, suddenly gaining her confidence back. "I think you should get to know him. Just a little. I think you'll like him."

"Like him as what?" Tris asked suspiciously.

"As a friend, for starters."

"Does Briar know about this?"

Talia bit her lip again. "Not really. I invited Hunter over to meet you and didn't say anything to Briar about it. Daja knows, but that's it."

Tris stood up and started pacing. "Thank you for wanting to see me happy," she finally said. "I just don't think that was the right way to do it."

"So you won't see him again?"

Tris looked at Talia, who had a hopeful look on her face. "Sure, because he would really want to see me again," Tris said with sarcasm.

"Actually, he made a point of asking if I would ask you if you wanted to see him again," Talia said, inspecting her fingernails. "But if you don't want to…"

Tris stared at her friend, and then sat down heavily on the bed. Talia hid a smile. "Shall I tell him you'll meet up with him, then?" she asked nonchalantly.

Tris blinked a few times, unable to speak. "Well?" Talia asked, and her voice seemed to snap Tris out of whatever spell she was under.

She hitched up a shoulder. "Do whatever you want," she said with a slight scowl. "You seem to do that already."

Talia held in her smile and replaced it with a frown so that Tris wouldn't be able to tell how excited she was. She didn't say anything else to Tris, just left the room and went downstairs.

xXx

"What do you think of him?" This time it was Tris's turn to ask the question, and Briar was the one she was asking. It was just after the midday meal that she cornered him in his workshop to ask.

"Hunter?" Briar asked. Tris nodded. "I don't know. I mean, he's all right. It's all right if Talia wants to be friends with him, but I doubt he and I will ever be mates, you know?" He glanced over at Tris before looking back down at the project he was finishing. "Why?"

Tris shrugged. "Talia just asked me, and I thought I'd ask you what you thought of him."

Briar turned all the way around and leaned his hips against the table, crossing his arms over his chest. "If you like him, Coppercurls, be my guest," he told her with a shake of his head. "Just don't expect me to play nice."

xXx

Briar was still in his workshop when Talia came to find him to get him to come to supper. "What are you working on?" she asked, resting her chin on his shoulder as she came up behind him.

He turned to kiss her nose before answering. "I started this a while ago. Before our kidnapping." He gestured to the plant that was on the table. "It's taken me this long to get it exactly right."

He edged out from in front of Talia and let her look at what he'd made for her. Talia's hand went to her throat as she looked at the heart shaped cluster of pale pink roses. "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed softly. She turned to look at him, and he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes.

She came to him and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you so much. It's the best present I could've gotten."

Briar grinned. "It was my pleasure, seeing as you're the best present I've ever gotten. One question, though."

Talia's head tilted to the side as she looked up at her husband. "What?"

"Why did you invite Hunter over today?"

"You've talked to Tris," Talia said, stepping away from him.

"I have. Did you invite him for her?"

Talia turned to smell the roses in her gift. "Well, I thought it would be nice. He's a very nice man, and I think they would get along well together. That's all."

"So you're going to force him on her as often as possible?"

"Who said anything about force?" Talia scoffed. "She practically fainted when I told her that he wanted to see her again. She's attracted to him."

"Attraction is one thing, sweetheart. Actually liking someone is different."

Talia turned her nose up. "Well, I still think it's worth a try. If she doesn't like him, or if he doesn't like her, then it's done. Tris would be the first to let us know if nothing happened. She'd lord it over me for weeks."

Briar smiled again. "At least there's some guaranteed entertainment in it."

Talia patted his chest lightly. "There you go. Look on the bright side."

xXx

The next morning, Tris opened her eyes. She stretched lightly and then got out of bed. She looked around for the book she was currently reading, thinking to read through breakfast, but couldn't find it in her room.

She thought back to what she'd done the day before, and then went up to the roof from her room. Something metal caught her eye. Drawing near to it, she saw that it was her book, but there was something sparkling on it in the morning light.

Laying on the book was a flower fashioned from what looked like copper. It had a small H etched into the stem that left no doubt as to who had made it. Tris studied the flower for a minute, trying to figure out what it was. Finally, she realized. She hadn't lived with Briar for ten years without picking up some flower names and their meanings. "Gloxinia," she recited to herself. "Love at first sight."

She twirled the flower in her fingers and smiled softly.

**Chapter 1**

"Briar doesn't much like you," Talia commented to Hunter later that day. She was sitting in his forge two streets over from the house on Cheeseman Street, having dropped in on her way to the market.

"No?" He shot her a glance as he pounded aluminum into thin sheets.

Talia shook her head and leaned on her hand, watching him. "I'm not really sure why."

With a smile, Hunter set the finished sheet aside and moved to the next. "Have you heard anything from Tris?" he asked, hoping he wasn't being way too obvious.

"Not since I spoke to her yesterday," Talia replied. "Why?"

Hunter shook his head. "No reason."

Talia looked at him for a minute and then grinned. "You're blushing."

Hunter turned farther away so she couldn't see the flush on his cheekbones anymore. "Am not. I thought you were on your way to the market, anyway."

"I am. I've got to pick up some things for the plants. And probably some glass coloring for Chime."

"Chime?"

"Tris's glass dragon," Talia explained. "She likes the powders that color glass."

"So why are you here bothering me instead of at the market?" he asked, changing the topic.

"Just thought I'd drop in," Talia replied. "Problem?"

"Not at all. But if your husband doesn't like me, you ought to be careful visiting me."

Talia laughed lightly. "Briar knows my plans for you and Tris," she told him.

"Oh? What did he say to that?"

"Not much, surprisingly. He asked me if I was forcing you on her. I told him no, that I thought you would get along well. He decided he would get entertainment out of it."

Hunter snorted. "That makes one of us."

Talia smiled and stood. "Well, I should be going. They'll be wondering where I am soon. I'll see you around, Hunter."

"Bye, Talia. You'll let me know if…"

Talia nodded, understanding. "I'll let you know."

xXx

After Talia had gone, Hunter set down his hammer and put his fists on the table, propping himself up. He couldn't believe he'd sunk to the level of desperation so quickly. He'd even gone so far as to work late into the night on that flower that he wasn't even sure she'd see, much less know the meaning of.

It was bad enough that he'd barely been able to sit still for the rest of the time he'd been at that house, but then he'd asked Talia about her again today.

He just hoped Tris figured out what she wanted, and fast, because he didn't know how much longer he was going to be sane.

xXx

Tris sat up in her third floor bedroom, but instead of scrying the wind for visions and sounds, as she usually did while sequestered there, she held a copper flower in her hand.

_Tris?_ It was Briar's voice that called to her. _We haven't seen you all day. Are you all right?_

Tris smiled to herself. _I'm fine, Briar._

_Are you sure?_

_Positive._

Briar took a closer look in her mind. _What've you got there, Coppercurls?_ he asked.

Tris snapped back to reality for a second. She shot up in her bed, her back ramrod straight as she closed her eyes tightly. _It's nothing!_ she exclaimed. _Leave me alone._

xXx

"He gave her a flower," Briar said to Talia.

"And?"

"A copper flower."

"He's a smith. He makes things out of metal. Unless I'm seriously misinformed, copper is a metal. I still don't see what the problem is," Talia replied. She'd just gotten back from the market, and was still setting things in their proper places in the workshop.

"Nothing's the matter, really."

"Then why do you keep repeating it?"

Briar glared at his wife. "He gave her a gloxinia."

"Those are pretty," Talia said, glancing at him over her shoulder.

"They mean 'love at first sight,'" Briar stated.

"Well, then, I suppose it's perfect, isn't it?" Talia picked up a small jar of glass coloring agent. "I'm going to go give this to her for Chime," she said. "I'll find out what I can, okay?"

She crossed to there Briar was scowling and kissed him gently. "Calm down. Is it so bad that they like each other? I know you don't like him, but are you willing for that to get in the way of Tris being happy? You know she values your opinion."

Briar frowned harder and muttered something under his breath. "I didn't catch that," Talia said, and he sighed.

"I said I guess not."

She patted his arm. "Smart." She walked slowly up to Tris's room and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Talia. I brought you something from the market."

"Come in."

Talia opened the door. Tris was sitting on her bed with a book at her side, but she wasn't reading it. "What is it?"

"I bought Chime some powder at the market," Talia said, holding it up.

"Oh. Thank you. You can put it there." Tris nodded her head at the table next to the window where she did her scrying.

Talia placed the jar on the table carefully and slowly, looking around and trying not to be obvious about looking.

"It's over here," Tris said finally.

Talia faced her and tried to keep the flush from her cheeks. "What is?"

"The flower."

"May I see it?"

Tris nodded and held the small flower up. Talia came to sit next to her on the bed, and gently took the flower from Tris's hand. She exhaled reverently. "This is beautiful," she whispered. "How did you get it?"

Tris smiled softly. "It was on my book. I left it out on the roof. When I went up this morning to find it, I saw that."

Talia held her tongue for a moment, and then looked sideways at Tris. "You know, if you wanted to say thank you, his forge is two streets over."

**A/N: Any and all comments, thoughts and suggestions welcome! Thanks to everyone, especially Kate of Carlay, my beta. :D --SSS**


	2. Kiss

**A/N: Hi guys! I know I said it'd be a while between updates...but this is how much I love you guys. If the next update doesn't come for a while, know I'm still working on this and I still love it. Oh, yeah, I forgot. The updates for this are a lot shorter than the ones for my other story, Crow Legends: Naira (You should check it out, by the way :D) by about a thousand or so words. They're short, and I'm not sure if they'll get any longer, so sorry about that. But...enjoy! Thank you to all of my splendid reviewers and my amazing beta, **Kate of Carlay**. You're all fantastic!**

Disclaimer: Still not TP.

**Chapter 2**

Tris was already outside at the gate that led to the street when a messenger flew through the wrought iron. "Miss! Miss, I have a letter for you. Well, it's a note, really, but it's for you."

Tris shook her head and took the note the messenger was holding out. She dug into her pocket for a coin and gave it to him. Upon closing his hand around it, he ran back out the way he came.

Tris opened the note. _Dearest Tris,_ it read. _I'm back in Summersea! Well, I will be by noon. I was wondering if I could stay with you for my holiday. You know where to find me. Sincerely, Glaki._

Tris briefly pressed the note to her chest. Glaki had been her second student. Sort of. While Tris had been teaching Keth Warder, the glass mage, Glaki's mother and foster mother had been killed, and Tris had discovered that the four year old had magic.

She remembered the trip to Summersea, Winding Circle, and Tris's own foster mothers, Lark and Rosethorn, remembered leaving the small girl with Tris's beloved dog, Little Bear, remembered taking the girl to Lightsbridge when she was old enough.

_Briar! Daja!_ she called through their minds. "Talia!" she called out loud.

"What is it?" three different voices asked in alarm.

"I'm going to meet Glaki," she said. "I'm going to bring her back here to stay for a while. Until she has to go back to school."

They wished her well and she set off toward Discipline Cottage, which had been her home for nearly four years from the time she was ten. It was an exciting trip for her. She hadn't seen the girl in nearly a year, as they were both busy.

"Tris!" She heard her name called as she entered the gates of Discipline. The voice was accompanied by barking.

The big dog raced out and jumped up on Tris excitedly. With a smile, Tris pushed him down. "Little Bear, down!" she said, and turned to the girl coming down the walkway. "Glaki, it's so nice to see you again," she said, reaching out to embrace the girl.

Glaki pushed her curly brown hair out of her face and then hugged Tris back. "It's nice to see you, too," she said. "Have you come to bring me to your house? Am I being allowed to spend my holiday with you?" she asked, suddenly excited.

"You only had to ask," Tris replied with a smile. "Let me go say hello to Lark and Rosethorn, and then we'll go, all right? Gather your things."

They walked into the house, and Tris found Lark sitting down weaving. When she heard footsteps, she looked up and smiled. "Tris! What are you doing here? Are you picking up Glaki?"

Tris nodded. "Yes. But I think everyone's coming to visit tomorrow, so we'll be back."

"I'll tell Rosie you were here if you want to go," Lark offered.

"Thank you. I've got to get Glaki settled at home, so we should probably get going." She bent to hug her foster-mother and went outside. She stuck two fingers in her mouth and gave a shrill whistle.

Little Bear bounded out of the house and halted next to Tris, blowing up a cloud of dust. His tail thumping on the ground made more dust rise, and Tris was glad that her clothes were resistant to the stuff.

Her nose wasn't though, and she sneezed. She hunted for a handkerchief, but couldn't find one before the next round of sneezing hit. When she opened her eyes, she saw a square of white linen hanging from long fingers in front of her face. She took it and then looked at the person who'd handed it to her.

"Hunter!" she exclaimed, and then realized that her voice was an octave higher than usual. She cleared her throat. "Thank you, I mean. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see Dedicate Frostpine," he said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"How do you know Frostpine?" Tris asked, narrowing her eyes.

Hunter just chuckled softly and lifted his shoulders. "Who hasn't heard of Frostpine and Daja," he said. "I needed to speak with him about a working, anyway. To see if something was possible."

"And is it?"

"He didn't see why it shouldn't be, but directed me to ask Daja, just in case."

Tris nodded and then looked toward the cottage when Glaki came running out, a pack thrown over her shoulder. "Is that everything you brought?" Tris asked.

Glaki nodded. "This is everything. Hello, there," she sad, smiling at Hunter. "Who are you?"

"Hunter. I'm a friend of Tris's," he said, smiling at Tris when she turned to stare at him.

"Ah, this is Glaki," Tris said. "I've known her since she was four."

"Where are you from?" Hunter asked.

"Tharios. You?"

"Kugisko, in Namorn. But I've lived here for about four years."

"Daja went to Kugisko," Glaki said, remembering stories.

"That's where I met her and Frostpine," Hunter replied. "I was still a student when they came." He and Glaki started walking, and Tris followed, struck dumb by the easiness between these two people. Little Bear was at her side, trotting along next to her.

"Do you have a mage medallion?" Glaki asked. Hunter reached under his tunic and brought it out to show her. "How old were you when you got it?"

"Twenty. My teacher decided he had nothing more to teach me and I was ready to go into the world on my own."

"Tris was thirteen. So were Daja, Sandry and Briar."

"Glaki," Tris said in warning, and the girl turned around.

"Sorry, Tris," she said, knowing that Tris didn't like to rub it in that she'd gotten her mage medallion so young. Then she turned back to Hunter. "Why did you move to Summersea?'

"I visited here when I was younger, and I liked it. And then I found out that Daja and Frostpine live here, and decided that I wanted to live near people who understood me."

The chatter kept up the entire way back to Cheeseman Street. "Glaki, go on inside," Tris told her. "Take Little Bear with you. I'm sure everyone will be glad to see you."

"Is it true Briar got married?"

Tris nodded. "Her name is Talia. I think she's excited to meet you. Go on, now."

Glaki waved goodbye to Hunter and called for Little Bear. The big dog loped up the walk after the girl, and they both disappeared inside.

"Why did you come here?" Tris asked, glaring at the other mage.

"Here to your house, you mean?" Hunter asked, smiling. Tris's glare didn't seem to affect his good humor at all. "Well, the girl was asking me questions. I couldn't very well blow her off, now, could I?"

Tris scowled. "Just go away, will you," she said angrily, crossing her arms over her chest. Both of Hunter's eyebrows rose, but he didn't move. Finally, Tris uncrossed her arms and sighed. "Thank you," she muttered.

"For?"

He didn't think her voice could get any softer, but it did. "For the flower," she whispered.

She was looking away from him. Hunter suddenly felt the need to look into her eyes, to know what she was thinking. He reached out and put a finger under her chin, lifting slightly until her face was turned up towards his. "Do you know what it means?"

Tris jerked back as if stunned. "I've lived with plant mages for half my life. If I didn't know that a gloxinia meant love at first sight, I'd be very unintelligent, don't you think?"

Hunter smiled again. He liked that edge in her voice, he decided. Probably more than he should. He trailed his knuckles up over her jaw to caress her cheek. "I want to see you again," he said.

Tris pulled back from him. "I don't think so," she finally said, and started to turn away.

He grabbed her jaw in his hand and forced her to look at him. "Why not?"

"Maybe I don't want to!" The two thin braids hanging down on either side of her face started to spark with lightning. She hoped it would scare him into letting her go, but it looked like he didn't even notice, even when his hand made contact with the lightning for a second.

"If you didn't want to, you'd have made more of an effort to be rid of me," Hunter said. His voice was very quiet and seemed to penetrate Tris's entire self. His green gaze seemed to see into her very soul.

Tris frowned. "Let go of me."

"Maybe I don't want to," Hunter replied, using her own words against her. He bent his head and touched his lips to hers for a moment. It was a brief meeting of lips, nothing more and then he let her go. "Think about that, Tris," he told her and he turned. The wide grin was back on his face.

Tris stood completely still for a moment, eyes wide in shock after what had just taken place. Then she growled softly and wheeled around toward the house. She was angry and throwing off sparks, but she didn't know who she was angry at, Hunter or herself.

**A/N: So what do you think? Hope you loved it. Let me know in a review, all right?! :D Love to you all!--Sarah**


	3. Shock

**A/N: Is it bad that I'm updating this faster than Crow Legends? :D I'll have that one out soon, hopefully. I've finally gotten over (mostly) my ACF writer's block, so now I have to work through my CL:N one :D Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You guys are really great! Special thanks to** Kate of Carlay**, my beta and subliminal message giver :D Briar still wins, I don't care! :D**

Disclaimer: Not TP.

**Chapter 3**

"Do you like him?" Glaki asked. She and Tris were helping their cook, Kendre, to set out the plates for the meal.

"Him who?" Tris asked absently. She wasn't really paying attention to anyone, let alone this little girl she'd adopted in Tharios. Her thoughts were filled with Hunter and the gloxinia, not to mention the encounter that afternoon, so she didn't seem to notice that everyone was glancing at her and then smiling, amused at her dreamlike state.

"Hunter!" Glaki exclaimed. "Do you like him?"

Tris just stared at her for a minute. "What gave you that idea?" she asked when she could speak again.

"Ever since you came inside this afternoon, you haven't acted like yourself. All the older girls in school do that when they like a boy," she commented, shrugging.

Tris didn't say anything for a minute. "I don't like him at all," she said decidedly. "He likes me, though. I think."

Glaki smiled. "What's not to like about you, Tris?"

"Yeah, Coppercurls. You're the kindest, nicest person I've ever met," Briar said, tongue in cheek, and laughed when Tris made a rude gesture at him behind Glaki's back.

xXx

They ate dinner in their usual way, loudly and without many manners. When dinner was over, Tris and Glaki went to bathe, and when they came back, Tris put Glaki to bed in the room they had once intended for Sandry's use.

She went downstairs and found Daja getting ready to go to her room. She cleared her throat slightly. "Daja?"

"Yes, _saati_?" she asked.

"I have a question. I feel like I should already know, but for some reason, it never occurred to me before."

"Okay. Do we need to be in the hallway for this, or do you want to come in?" Tris walked by her sister into her room and then sat on a chair. "What's your question, Tris?"

"Does my lightning hurt you?"

"Sure."

"Really? Even my little braids?"

Daja frowned. "You know, I don't know. Let's find out."

Tris unbraided one of the braids that waved in front of her face and gathered the lightning out of it, making it into a long strand in her hand. Daja reached out with the hand that wasn't covered in living metal and touched it, pulling back when it had barely brushed her skin.

"Okay, never mind. That stung, badly." She held out her hand. A welt was already rising on it.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tris said, frowning in frustration. She forced the lightning back into her hair and braided it up.

"Don't worry about it. Why did you ask, though?"

"Well, Hunter touched the lightning, and it didn't look like it bothered him. You're the strongest smith mage I know. If it hurt you, it should have hurt him."

"Logically," Daja agreed. "Unless he was so focused on you that he didn't notice."

"But he'd have a big welt like you do?"

"Probably. Most likely."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks, Daja."

"Any time, Tris."

Tris left the room, frowning, and didn't notice Daja leave her room and go downstairs. Daja knocked on a door in the hallway near the kitchen.

"Who is it?" Briar called back.

"Daja."

"Come in," Talia said. As Daja opened the door, she heard her brother's wife say, "Why ask who it was? The only people who live here are us and your sisters. And Glaki now."

Briar didn't answer for a second. "Are you not speaking to Tris?" Talia asked incredulously.

"I'm not 'not talking' to her," Briar muttered under his breath, and Talia rolled her eyes.

She turned to Daja. "Hello, Daja. How are you?"

"Fine, thanks. But I need a healing salve."

"What for?"

"She works in a forge all day," Briar reminded Talia.

"But when has she ever gotten burned?"

Briar's frown grew blacker. "Oh. What's it for, Daj'?"

"I touched Tris's lightning."

"Well, that was stupid. What'd you do that for?" Talia elbowed Briar in the ribs to make him shut up.

"She wanted to see if it would hurt me."

Briar and Talia both had shocked expressions on their faces. Talia recovered first. Her eyes were shaded as she stood up and left to get the salve. "Not because she wanted to hurt me," Daja said when Talia came back. "She just wanted to know if it did."

"Because of Hunter?" Talia asked, smoothing the salve onto Daja's skin.

"She said he touched the lightning but it didn't affect him. Or, it didn't look like it affected him."

"And what happened?"

"I don't really know. She's trying to figure everything out. I don't think she's used to being so confused."

"Love's confusing," Talia remarked, laying a hand on Briar's shoulder lightly.

"Well, it shouldn't be that confusing," Briar muttered. "_Kaq_ likes girl, girl is enough of an idiot to like the _kaq_ back."

Talia and Daja exchanged a glance. "It's confusing when you've never dealt with it before," Daja said. "And Tris has never dealt with it before. Let her be, Briar. Not talking to her because she likes someone who you don't happen to approve of is stupid."

Briar glared in his sister's direction, but under her calm gaze, he finally sighed and relented. "I just don't see what's in it for him."

"He has to be getting something in return for liking Tris?" Daja asked, raising her eyebrows.

"No. That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean, then? No one can like Tris?"

"I didn't mean that either. I just meant, it seems a little strange that he's met her once and then decided he was in love with her."

Talia coughed, and it sounded like she said the word 'hypocrite.' Briar scowled at her, and she smiled sweetly at him. "You and I were different."

"At least he met her in person before deciding he loved her," Talia murmured.

Daja started backing out of the room, sensing a fight about to start. She loved her brother, and she loved Talia, but they had intense arguments every once in a while. She went back up to her room and sat at her desk. She looked at the living metal flower on her desk. Frostpine had sent it over earlier that day after meeting with Hunter.

The young mage wanted to know if it was possible to create living metal bushes and trees without using Daja's living metal, just by magic. The flower she was holding made it seem like it was possible.

He'd infused a normal copper flower with his magic and forced it to grow like a regular flower would. Daja had only had this one for a couple of hours and the bud it had been when it was delivered to her had now blossomed into a pretty Lucerne, meaning life.

He was creative in what flowers he chose, Daja thought. She had to give him that. But she wondered if he knew what he was getting into with Tris. It was food for thought.

xXx

Tris was doing some thinking of her own in her room. One of her small braids was in her mouth and she was chewing on it thoughtfully, not noticing the sparks that were coming off of it.

She twirled the gloxinia in the other hand, watching the light catch the subtle glints in the copper as she spun it.

Hunter was a mystery to her. She'd never met anyone like him before, and didn't quite know what to make of him. Despite the fact that she'd told Glaki she didn't like him, she knew she did. It was hard not to like him, even though he was arrogant and could stand to be taken down a few pegs.

Then she smiled. Who better to take him down a few pegs than the girl he was trying so hard to impress?

**A/N: Liked it? Hated it? Wished I would stop writing forever? Let me know in a review! Please and thank you! :D Love to all! --Sarah**


	4. Stick

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed this story! I'm glad you guys are liking it. This is the last chapter of the previously posted stuff. After this, everything is new. Special thanks to my beta,** Kate of Carlay**. Thanks to her, you have story names. We came up with four in one night. That was all her. So thanks, Kate :D**

**Chapter 4**

The next morning, Tris let herself out of the house and left before anyone noticed. Briar and Daja knew how to reach her when they figured out she was gone, and Talia and Glaki would be sure to tell them if they found out first.

She walked through the streets, wondering if she'd truly gone insane this time. Was this really smart, even if it was Hunter? After pausing in the road, she started moving again, deciding that she had to know just what was going on.

She found his forge easily, knowing what one looked like, and stepped inside.

It was hot, but then, all forges were, since there were fires running. Tris didn't notice the heat, though, because the second she'd walked in, she saw Hunter. He was standing with his back to her as he reached into the fire to pull glowing metal out of one of the furnaces.

She watched in silence as he carefully shaped it until it looked like a stem of some sort. Curiously, she shifted her gaze so she could see his magic, and saw it flowing through his hands into the piece of metal he was holding.

The stem grew, sprouting leaves and a tiny bud at the top, along with a couple of other branches that quickly grew leaves and buds of their own. Tris watched in amazement as the bush grew in size, and sighed in disappointment when it fell into itself.

She was surprised and a bit awed to see the bush rise up again, bigger this time than it had been before, and watched as it fell into itself again. It rose one more time, shooting out flowers and leaves all over the place, before folding inward to just the stem Hunter had started with.

"That was beautiful," Tris murmured.

Hunter jumped, startled, and turned around. "Tris. What are you doing here?" His dark green eyes were on her gray ones, and Tris could see his curiosity. It reminded her that she had no idea what she was doing here.

"What was that?" she asked instead, trying to change the subject.

Hunter raised a dark eyebrow, but then held out the stem. "It'll end up being a small pear blossom tree. It grows and shrinks three times, growing bigger each time. The third time it grows, it doesn't shrink back." Then he smiled. "At least, that's the plan. I'm not really sure how it'll go over."

Tris felt her lips twitch. Hunter kept smiling at her. His hand reached toward her, holding out the stem to her. "Take it."

"What?"

"It's for you. Let me know how it goes, okay? You're welcome in here any time."

Tris took the stem, looking at it for a minute. She barely noticed the warmth of it, though to anyone who didn't have magic like they did, it would probably have burned. When she looked up at him, he was busy pulling something else out of the fire, and didn't seem to be paying attention to her anymore.

She turned to leave, appalled by the fact that she'd gone there in the first place, when Hunter spoke. "Tris?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you come here?" He turned all the way around to face her.

Tris stared at him for a few seconds and tried to keep her emotions from showing on her face. She expected Hunter to say something else, but he just kept looking at her, waiting her out.

Normally, Tris was able to wait things out longer than anyone she knew, but with Hunter, she never knew what to expect. He seemed so different than anyone else she'd ever met, and she wasn't sure that she liked that.

Not to say that she didn't like _him_. It was just the way he was. Most people she knew would have run screaming the first time Tris sparked lightning, but he didn't. He'd been touched by the lightning, and it hadn't seemed to affect him at all.

He amazed her, put simply. She never knew what he was going to do next. She was used to the predictability of the human species, even her brother and sisters, but Hunter baffled her.

They kept staring at each other, and Tris finally felt herself give in. "Didn't my lightning hurt you?" she asked.

Hunter frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You're not burned?" Tris asked, tilting her head.

"What are you talking about?" Hunter asked again.

"Yesterday. I got upset and started…throwing off sparks. You touched them."

Hunter stared at her for a second, and then lifted his hands, showing her both sides. She caught sight of a nasty red welt on the knuckles of one of his hands just before he did. "Well, look at that," he said, and a smile broke out on his face. Then he glanced up at Tris, who looked completely shocked. "Doesn't hurt," he told her, shrugging.

"But…" She trailed off, and then lowered her head slightly and turned to walk out the door without another word, but then she stopped. "What does the pear blossom mean?" she asked without turning. Her voice was almost too quiet, but Hunter heard her.

"Hope," he said simply, and watched her leave.

xXx

Tris walked back to the house on Cheeseman Street. Talia and Briar were in the front part of the garden, and they spotted her walking up the street. "Where've you been, Tris?" Briar asked, and then saw the copper in her hand. "Ah."

Tris didn't even seem to notice her brother speaking to her. She went inside and up the stairs without even sparing a glance for Briar and Talia.

"Did you see what she held?" Talia asked.

"It looked like a stick. Why did he give her a stick?" Briar shook his head. "Whatever." He went back to his weeding, though Talia noticed that he was pulling the weeds with more force than usual.

"I'm going to find out," she said, and dusted off her dress and hands before going inside. She climbed the stairs to Tris's room, but the redhead wasn't there, so she peeked out onto the roof.

Tris was sitting on the ledge, and the stick was in her lap. Her head jerked up when she heard Talia come out onto the roof. "Oh. Hi."

"You passed right by me and Briar downstairs," Talia said, sitting down next to Tris. "Got a lot on your mind?"

Tris looked over and nodded slightly. "Yes, actually. I went by Hunter's forge today."

Talia's eyebrows raised. "Oh? What for?"

Tris pursed her lips and stood up, placing the stick in her pocket. "I had intended to talk to him about…I don't know. I really don't know why I went. And then he hands me this thing," she pulled the stick out of her pocket, "and completely confuses me."

"In the time I've known you, I've never heard you admit to being confused," Talia said, tucking her smile away from later. "And why did he give you a stick?"

"It's supposed to grow into a pear blossom tree. A mini one."

"Pear blossom?" Talia repeated quietly, and then smiled. "Hope. That's sweet."

Tris glared at her sister-in-law. "Sweet," she said, and rolled her eyes. "Every time I think I have him figured out, he does something unexpected."

"Men are usually that way," Talia agreed, nodding.

Tris grumbled under her breath for a while, and then turned to Talia. "Was Briar this complicated?" she asked.

"Briar told me what he wanted straight off," Talia replied with a shrug. "We didn't have much of a courtship." This last was said with a smile.

"Well, Hunter isn't courting me!" Tris exclaimed.

Before she could help it, a laugh slipped out of Talia's throat. "Sure, Tris," she said, grinning.

Tris glared at Talia and stormed off the roof, forgetting that this was part of her space, not Talia's.

xXx

Tris went downstairs and passed Glaki on the way down. "Tris, where were you this morning?" the girl asked.

"I went to see Hunter for a few minutes," Tris replied sourly.

"He gave you a stick?" Glaki asked, pulling the branch out of Tris's hold.

Tris snatched it back. "It's a pear blossom tree," she muttered, and kept walking.

Daja was in the kitchen when Tris went to find something to eat. "Did you speak with Hunter yet?" Daja asked. "About the lightning, I mean."

Tris nodded her head. "Yes. It burned him, but he didn't feel it, apparently. According to him, it doesn't hurt. I didn't get to ask him much more than that. I was a bit preoccupied."

Daja took a quick peek inside Tris's mind. "A stick?" she said first, stiffening, and then relaxed. "Oh. Pear blossom tree. Very nice. Tell me how it goes, will you?"

"Mages," Tris muttered.

Daja laughed. "He gave Frostpine a Lucerne, to see if it would grow like a regular flower. Frostpine sent it to me. It's one of the prettiest specimens I've seen not made with my living metal. It's like he creates his own living metal. I've seen metal and smith mages do great things, but I've never seen things like this before. It's really pretty brilliant."

Tris glowered, not wanting to hear her sister singing Hunter's praises. She sat down at the table and set the pear blossom branch in front of her on the table. She stayed there for a while, forgetting about the food, just concentrating on the branch.

Briar came in and saw Tris sitting at the table with her cheek cradled in her hand, elbow propped on the table, and smiled. She didn't look like his sister did. His smile dropped when he saw what was in front of her.

"He gave you a stick?" he exclaimed. "A stick, really? That's the best he can do? A stick?"

Tris sighed. "Be quiet Briar. I'm trying to watch it grow."

Briar snorted out a laugh. "Watch it grow? Tris, metal doesn't grow. Not unless it came off Daja's arm, anyway."

"This one's supposed to," Tris replied, not letting Briar's bad mood affect her already black one.

Briar sat down across the table at her and mimicked her posture, staring at the branch on the table. "Well, Coppercurls, this is boring," he said after a while, and stood up.

Tris reached over and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him back down. "Wait!" she said suddenly. "Look at that!"

Briar leaned in to the branch and saw that a tiny stem was growing slowly out of one side, unfurling a tiny leaf. His brow furrowed as he sat down and continued to watch.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you thought!! Any questions, please please please ask them! :D --Sarah**


	5. Eyes

**A/N: Hi! Well, I won't be back for two days, and I thought I'd post, so here you go! This chapter is the first of the new chapters, so for anyone who was upset that I was taking forever, here you go (yeah, Kate, I mean you :D). Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it. Special thanks to **Kate of Carlay** for being really happy and enthusiastic when I reposted this, and of course, for being my wonderful beta. :D Thanks bunches!**

Disclaimer: I'm not TP.

**Chapter 5**

They sat at the kitchen table all night and into the morning, watching the small copper tree grow.

"Have you two been here all night?" Talia's voice asked. Tris and Briar looked up at each other, and then at Talia. She and Glaki were standing in the doorway.

"What time is it?" Tris asked, looking out the window. Sun was streaming in through it. Then she noticed that Kendre, the cook, was nearly finished making breakfast.

"A couple of hours past dawn," Talia said. "Briar, you need some sleep before later."

"What's later?" he asked, screwing up his face. He was still looking at the pear blossom tree. It had just fallen in on itself for the second time, and was starting the third, and final, growth.

"We're going to Discipline, and you're helping Rosethorn carry supplies to the Mire, remember?" Talia asked, exasperated.

"Why do I have to do it? You're a plant mage."

Talia let out an exasperated sigh. "Briar Moss, get up and go to bed now."

"She's not," Briar exclaimed, pointing at Tris. Glaki giggled at his immaturity.

"I'm not her wife," Talia replied. "I'll make her go to sleep, too, but you have to be awake to help Rosethorn."

"Why can't you do it?" he asked again.

"I may be a plant mage, but we both know that Rosethorn wants you to accompany her."

"You're a bit too chipper for her," Tris remarked without looking at her sister in law.

Talia let out a squeak. "That must be why she likes you, Tris!" she exclaimed. "You're not too chipper for anyone. You're just a big…downer!" She stomped out of the room.

"That wasn't very nice, Tris," Glaki said, and went after Talia.

Tris looked at Briar. "What did I say?" she asked.

He shrugged a shoulder and put his head on his fist, propping himself up to keep watch on the steadily growing plant. "I should really go to bed. I have to help Rosethorn," he said, seemingly forgetting that it was Talia's reasoning.

"Then go," Tris replied.

"You should, too."

"It's not done yet," she said.

"Oh."

A while later, hot bowls of porridge appeared in front of them. "Eat to keep yourselves from falling asleep," Kendre said. "You should have listened to Talia though, Briar," she said. "She's fair upset with you, and with Tris."

"What'd I do?" Tris asked monotonously.

Kendre sighed. "You've been sitting here at this table for who knows how long looking at a metal plant," she said. "You're not thinking before you're speaking. It bothers Talia. And well it should. You're both being very juvenile."

"This is probably the most interesting thing I've seen since living metal," Briar said as Tris stood up, looking angry.

"Juvenile?! We're being juvenile? Who do you think you are, telling us that?" she exclaimed. Kendre raised an eyebrow and hit Tris on the head with a wooden spoon, knocking Tris out of her reverie. She and Tris had been on first name basis with each other almost since the woman had started cooking in the house, and they were friendly enough. Kendre almost looked on Tris as a daughter, and Tris almost looked on Kendre as a mother.

"Sorry, Kendre," Tris muttered, and sat back down at the table. "I haven't eaten since supper, and I haven't slept."

"Maybe you should do as Talia said and go to sleep, then?" Kendre suggested.

"No, Kendre, there's no use trying to get them to do anything," Talia shouted from another part of the house. "They don't listen to anyone but themselves!"

"When did her hearing get so good?" Tris muttered to Briar.

He shrugged. "It's always been like that." He looked back down at the pear blossom tree. "It looks about done," he remarked, and yawned. "That's my cue to make up with my wife."

"Have fun," Tris remarked absently, and picked up the tree from its perch on the table. "Thank you, Kendre," she said, and started out of the room.

As she walked down the hall past Briar and Talia's room, she glanced at the open door. Briar was holding Talia in his arms, but she had a frown on her face, like she wasn't going to give in that easily.

"I'm sorry, love," he said. "But, honestly, that was the strangest thing I've seen in a long time."

"Which says a lot since you're a plant mage," Talia muttered.

Briar chuckled and held her tighter. He kissed her softly, and then whispered, "I'm getting into bed now, all right?"

"Don't do it just to please me," Talia told him.

"I'm not. I'm dead tired, and I should have listened to you before."

Talia was silent a moment, and then sighed and wrapped her arms around Briar. "At least you realize that," she murmured before standing on her toes to kiss him.

Tris smiled and reached through with her magic to grab a thread of the breeze coming through the open window on the other side of the room. She used it to close the door, and then set it free.

_Thanks, Tris,_Briar said in her mind, and then closed her out.

Sighing, she made her way up the stairs to her own room. Little Bear was on her floor, something she didn't really appreciate. She'd asked Glaki to keep the dog in her room, so it wouldn't bother anyone, so it would figure that the dog would end up in here.

She was too tired to complain, though. She changed into a nightgown and got into bed, hoping she'd be able to sleep.

xXx

She was just exhausted enough that sleep came quickly.

She slept dreamlessly, except for the image of a pair of green eyes, watching her, their emerald depths asking her questions she didn't want to answer.

xXx

"He makes me nervous," Tris admitted to Daja. They were riding to Discipline Cottage in Winding Circle, Glaki at the front, then Talia and Briar, and then Daja and Tris. Sandry was meeting them there.

"Hunter? What did he do?"

Tris shrugged. "Just the way he looks at me. I can't explain it. I don't like it."

"What don't you like? That he looks at you? Or the way he does it?" Daja asked.

"Both," Tris said decidedly. "I dreamt about his eyes."

Daja turned to look at her sister. "About his eyes?"

Tris nodded miserably. She couldn't believe she'd just let that slip. "That's all it was: his eyes. Just staring at me and asking questions."

"Asking questions?" Daja asked. "Tris, if you dreamt about eyes talking to you, I think you need to see Briar or Rosethorn or Talia for some kind of cure. That doesn't sound normal."

Tris glared at her. "That's what I get for trying to tell you things," she muttered, and thrust her mind into Daja's, making the Trader girl see her dreams against her will.

When Daja pushed her out reflexively, Tris rode off ahead of the group. "Tris!" Daja called, but she didn't answer.

"What's wrong with her?" Briar asked.

Daja shook her head slowly. "I'm not sure. I think things are happening that she's not ready for, and it frightens her."

"Our Tris? Nothing frightens her," Talia said.

"Not much," Daja agreed. She remembered that any time Tris liked any boy in the past, it had turned out badly. Daja knew Tris didn't want this to turn out the same way, and knew that was what frightened her most. She wanted this to succeed, even if she didn't realize or acknowledge it yet.

**A/N: Liked it? Didn't like it? Let me know in a review, please! Thanks bunches! --Sarah**


	6. Love

**A/N: Sorry it's been pretty much forever on this one. Although, I did remind you that updates wouldn't be very frequent. Well, now they will be, since I finished Naira and most of my college essays! Thank you to everyone who totally loves this story, and special thanks to Kate of Carlay for being an amazing beta and for just helping me with stuff hahahaha. I hope you like this installment of: A Copper Flower.**

Disclaimer: Not TP

**Chapter 6**

"Tris, are you all right?"

Normally, Sandry wouldn't be so dense as to actually ask her sister this question. However, Tris wasn't acting like her usual prickly self. She was acting…

Sad?

Why was she sad? Her brother and sisters couldn't figure it out. When Sandry mentioned it, Briar said to leave her alone, she'd be over it soon. But Sandry wouldn't stop.

Daja watched Tris stare out the window, completely ignoring everyone else in the room. She also told Sandry to leave Tris alone, but for a different reason. "She's hurting, and I think she wants to do it alone for now. She'll tell us when she's ready." Talia agreed with a nod, and went back to a discussion with Rosethorn about some plant or other.

Glaki went over to the woman who'd adopted her seven years before. "Tris?" she asked quietly. "Are you okay?"

Tris didn't even look over. Glaki tried again, with the same results. Tris was in her own world, and no one else was allowed in.

Finally, Sandry tried her luck. "Tris, are you all right?"

"Leave me alone, Sandry," Tris whispered, not taking her eyes from the path in front of Discipline Cottage.

"What's wrong, _saati_?" Sandry asked.

"Ask Daja," Tris said, glaring over at the Trader girl.

Sandry and Briar looked at Daja questioningly. _Later,_ she said into their minds. _When everyone else is occupied._

Sandry and Briar nodded and started conversations. _Why not just tell them now?_ Tris asked sullenly in Daja's mind.

_Speaking to me again, saati? _Daja replied softly.

_I was never not. I just needed a minute. Why wouldn't you tell them?_

_I thought you wouldn't want anyone else to know._ Daja hesitated. _Saati? What's going on with you and Hunter?_

_I don't know. It confuses me, Daja. I've never met anyone like him, someone I can't just put in a box. I've even done that with you and Briar and Sandry._

_Well, that's probably because you're inside our heads. It's easier to put us in a specific place,_ Daja said with a grin.

xXx

After dinner, Daja, Tris, Sandry and Briar went up onto the roof, like they had all through their younger years. Talia stayed downstairs, and was talking to Lark and Rosethorn, and Glaki was trying to teach Little Bear a new trick.

"Tris, is everything all right? What did you want us to ask Daja about?" Sandry asked the minute they were settled.

Without a word, Tris let them into her mind and showed them what she showed Daja on the ride to Winding Circle. When they all came out of Tris's mind, Sandry and Briar stared at her.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Sandry said. "You know we'd have listened if you said you were confused."

Tris rolled her eyes. "And actually put it into words? Please," she scoffed.

"She's got a point, Duchess," Briar said, using his old nickname for Sandry. "It's never been like Tris to say something she doesn't want to."

Tris sighed. "I'd like to say I wasn't confused, but I am. You all know what happens when I like men."

"Hunter isn't like that, though," Daja said. "I met him in Kugisko, that year Frostpine and I were there? He was always kind and considerate. What he's doing with you is just that."

"He's courting you," Sandry whispered, a light smile touching her lips.

Briar rolled his eyes and kept out of it. He'd already been reprimanded once for getting into a conversation about Hunter. He wasn't about to do it again and have all three of his sisters angry at him over the smithmage.

"That's what confuses me," Tris said quietly.

"How is that confusing?" Sandry asked. Then she sighed, eyes distant. "I'd like to be courted."

"By someone who actually wanted to court you, you mean?" Briar asked, unable to resist. Sandry stuck her tongue out at him. "Careful, Duchess. One day you'll get a thorn in your tongue or something."

"Because I'll have stuck my tongue in a rosebush?" she asked, grinning.

"Because I'll put one there," he replied.

Sandry laughed and turned back to Tris. "How is that confusing?" she asked again.

"Because I don't know why he's doing it," Tris answered obviously.

"He's doing it because he likes you," Sandry said. "He wouldn't be going to the trouble of making you flowers if he didn't."

"That may be true, but still. I can't understand it. Any of it." They all heard the whisper in her mind, the one that told her she wasn't good enough, she was fat, she was unlovable.

"None of that's true," Daja said.

"We all love you," Sandry said.

"It doesn't matter that we do," Briar told them. "It matters that whatever that is, that insecurity? It's wrong. Just because men can be _kaqs_, it doesn't mean you're unlovable. Where did you even get that idea?"

"It's always been there," Tris muttered. "Since my parents sent me away. My parents and everywhere else I went. The only place that didn't send me away was here, with Lark and Rosethorn. And then you, Daja, at Cheeseman Street."

"We've all been sent away from places," Daja objected. "Every one of us. That's how we ended up here. Together."

"Doesn't that make you wonder if it's worth it, then? Trying to love someone, and have them love you back? Doesn't it seem impossible, when you realize what we've come from?"

"If we all can't be loved, I'd have to wonder why Talia was still here," Briar said quietly. "Why I was still with her. If we can't be loved, if we can't love, what's the point of pretending?"

"I think we're loved for where we've come from, and for the fact that we've faced what we have and survived," Sandry said defiantly. "We're loved because of where we've come from, not because we were put in a convent or were on the seas, or the streets or anywhere else! I refuse to believe that we can't be loved. I refuse to believe it." Her voice was shaking, and her eyes were slightly wild.

"Duchess, calm down," Briar told her, laying a hand on hers gently. He looked at Tris. "I wasn't going to say anything, but now I think I have to. From what I've seen of Hunter, he doesn't seem like the others you've liked before. He's not a noble, not proud. He practically begged Talia to ask you to see him again. He wouldn't do that unless he really liked you."

"What are you saying?"

"He's saying, give him a chance," Daja murmured. "Just a chance to prove to you that he's not like those others."

"Much as I hate to say that, yes, that is what I mean," Briar said, nodding.

xXx

When Tris went up onto her roof that night, there was another flash of copper, and she went over to it. It was another flower. She stared at it, uncertain, and then opened her mind. _Briar?_ she called.

_Yes, Coppercurls?_ She could tell he was working in his workroom, Talia by his side.

_What flower is this?_ she asked, and showed him an image of it.

He thought, and then said, _A lemon blossom._

_What does that mean?_

He hesitated. _It's a promise to be true. Fidelity in love._

With a soft smile, Tris went back down into her room, forgetting why she'd even gone onto the roof in the first place. She set the lemon blossom by the gloxinia and the pear blossom tree. Love at first sight, hope, and fidelity in love. An interesting progression, Tris thought.

**A/N: Did you like it? Was it worth the wait? Please let me know! Thank you all for reviewing! Please continue to do so! :D**


	7. Doxy

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy it! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and special thanks to my beta, Kate of Carlay, for being totally amazing! :D**

Disclaimer: Not TP

**Chapter 7**

Hunter was practically pulling his hair out. He should have waited to give her the lemon blossom. He just hadn't been able to help himself when he'd found out that Tris was unsure about him.

So he'd worked as hard as he could to get the flower to her. And it had gotten there. The only bad part of the situation was that he didn't get to see her face when she realized what it meant.

As he fell asleep that night, he tried to imagine her expression. Would she smile, would she roll her eyes? Would she even see it? Would she care?

xXx

"You have to get the girl!" a voice exclaimed.

"There are three living in that house," another, calmer, voice replied. "Not to mention the one visiting."

"The redhead," the first voice said. "And don't be smart with me. You'll take the redheaded witch and bring her to me. Do you understand?"

There was silence. One man bowed to the other. "Aye, Master. I'll bring her to you."

xXx

As the house slept, a man picked the lock on the front door. He could have attempted to scale the house, he knew, but this was safer. At least this way he'd be killed outright and not from falling and breaking his neck.

He went carefully up three flights of stairs; his master knew where she slept, and had passed along that information.

As he went up the stairs, he noticed a light breeze flowing up past him, but didn't think anything of it. Foolish, he'd later think. He disregarded it, thinking that in a house like this, the stairs were bound to be drafty.

He climbed until he reached the top, and then made his way to the occupied bedroom. He slipped inside and noticed that the wind was getting stronger. _Odd_, he told himself, but kept moving toward the bed, where the girl lay, sleeping.

Or so he thought. As he reached out with the magical rope, spelled to keep her asleep, the wind grew, and the girl started throwing off sparks. She rose up out of the bed, and he tried to catch her with the rope. With a flick of her wrist, it flew out of his hand out the window, disappearing into the night.

He stepped back as the girl advanced on him, her hair crawling with lightning. The wind had picked up to storm strength, keeping him pinned to the wall. "If you come near me again, I'll kill you," she said, and gathered a fistful of lighting from the braids by her face. "For now, this will have to do."

She shaped the lightning into a band and had it circle his neck, much the way a slave collar would fit. She tightened it until it burned into his skin and he shouted in pain. With a sigh, the mage drew back the lightning. "Now go."

He raced from the room, unable to do anything else. The wind was still pushing up into the room that held the girl. As he escaped into the night, he looked back at the house. The girl was at the window, looking down on him with fathomless eyes.

xXx

_Briar? Daja? Sandry?_ Tris's call was weak, but it was enough to wake them.

_What is it?_ Sandry asked.

Tris showed them all what had happened. She'd heard the intruder and pulled wind through the house so she could see what was going on. She let him climb the stairs, and then he got to her room, bearing that rope that had smelled like sleep.

She showed them the lightning band she'd pressed to his skin, and how he'd looked back when he'd escaped.

The other three jumped up immediately. Briar, Talia and Daja raced upstairs after closing and bolting the door again, and Sandry woke two guards to ride over with her to Cheeseman Street.

xXx

Tris was shaking, but not from exhaustion. "Why?" she asked. No one could answer her. "They know where I sleep, and they know enough to bring a magicked rope."

"Where is it?" Briar asked.

Using a breeze, Tris brought it back into the room. "He was wearing gloves," she told them as the rope landed on the floor. "I think that's why it didn't work on him."

Sandry sent out her magic first, testing it. "It's spelled for sleep," she said. "A deep sleep."

"Something like this could keep you out for days," Briar said, feeling the spell in his magic. "Even a week."

Daja found something interesting. "There's metal, imbedded in the core of the rope. To keep the spell fresh."

"Would it have to be a smithmage doing this?" Tris asked dully.

"Hunter didn't do this," Daja said. "I know he didn't. And no. Any mage who can perform a sleep spell can do it."

"What metal is it?" Tris asked.

"Iron," Daja said. "It's soft, easy to bend if you're a smith. They had smith help, but it's not Hunter. I know it's not."

"How do you know!" Tris shouted. "How do you know it wasn't him."

"He marks Hs in everything he does. It's automatic. He even does it with nails. This isn't his work."

Tris settled back onto her bed. "Whatever you say, Daja."

"Coppercurls, I'd feel better if you didn't sleep up here alone tonight," Briar said.

"I'll be fine, Briar," she replied. "Thank you for worrying. But I can handle myself. He walked right by three of you."

xXx

Talia went to Hunter's forge the next day. He looked surprised to see her, but invited her to sit down. She looked nervous. "I have to tell you something," she said.

"What is it?"

Talia briefly related the story of the past night's excitement.

"Excuse me?!" Hunter exclaimed. "What, exactly, happened?" Talia explained the whole thing to him again. "And she thought it was me?!" He was offended. It was hard not to be. He realized it was probably just her insecurity, but still! Thinking he'd do a thing like that! Out of the question!

When he started to leave the forge, Talia caught his arm. "Hunter, wait!" she said. "They don't know I'm telling you. They don't even know I'm the one who told you about their conversation yesterday. They don't know I heard the whole thing."

"I don't care, Talia," he said, wrenching away from her.

He stormed over two streets and into the Cheeseman Street house. "Where's Tris?" he asked the first person he saw, who happened to be Daja.

"In her room. What's going on?" She spotted Talia behind Hunter, and sighed. "You told him? Talia."

"I thought he should know," Talia said with a shrug. "It's not like his feelings aren't invested in this as much as anyone else's. I don't regret telling him."

Daja went after Hunter, and found him climbing the stairs. "Hunter, stop!" she called.

"No! I need to set this straight now, once and for all," he called back.

"What's goin—oh, hi, Hunter!" Glaki exclaimed.

"Glaki," Hunter acknowledged, walking past her with hardly a look.

"What's wrong with him?" Glaki asked Daja, who was running up the steps.

"He's upset," she replied. "Go downstairs with Kendre, all right? I'm sure she needs help."

Glaki didn't want to go, but the look in Daja's eyes quelled any argument she might have had.

xXx

Hunter burst into Tris's room. When he saw she wasn't there, he found his way up to the roof. Tris was sitting in a corner, reading. "Why would you think I was trying to kidnap you?" he demanded, and she looked up sharply.

"Excuse me?" Tris asked, eyes narrowing.

"You heard me. All I've done is try to make you understand that I like you, a lot, but you just don't seem to get it! That's probably a pretty good reason to kidnap you all on its own, but honestly, Tris. What would I gain from it? What would I have to gain by kidnapping you, when my own heart would be with you? Seems a little pointless, doesn't it?"

Tris's mouth was open in shock when he came over to her. He jerked her out of her chair and pressed his lips to hers. "Tell me you don't feel that," he said, leaning his forehead against hers. "Tell me you don't feel the connection between us."

Tris didn't say anything. "Don't you ever accuse me of trying to harm you," he whispered harshly, giving her a slight shake. "Ever!"

Tris broke out of his hold. "I'm not your doxy! You have no right to order me around!" She finally got her voice back.

"Who called you a doxy?" Hunter shouted. "I definitely didn't!"

"You have no right to be here, to be up here, to be with me!" Tris yelled, and the braids by her face started sparking.

Hunter's anger ebbed. "Why do you keep trying to push me away? I won't go, Tris. I won't. No matter how much you yell at me, how much you scream and spark. I won't go."

In a moment of pure insanity, Tris realized he'd said words she'd always wanted to hear. He was accepting her as she was, exactly as she was. Temper and lightning and all. She reached up and pulled his head down to hers in a fit of passion.

While they kissed, Hunter smiled inwardly. Finally, it seemed like she believed him.

xXx

"You didn't get the girl!" the man yelled.

"I can also hardly speak for lightning in my throat," the second man said hoarsely.

"I cannot believe this!" the first man screamed. "Failure is not tolerated! You'll go back, and this time, you will bring Trisana Chandler to me!"

**A/N: Hope you liked it! Please let me know what you liked/didn't like/thought I could improve on/whatever in a review! Thank you so much! Love to all! Sarah**


	8. Kidnap

**A/N: Chapter 8! Enjoy! Please read the A/N at the bottom. It contains important information! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, special thanks to Kate of Carlay for being amazing, and for being a fantasmic beta! :D**

Disclaimer: Not TP.

**Chapter 8**

Hunter insisted on residing at the Cheeseman Street house for a while. Tris and the others told him it wasn't necessary, but he yelled at them and matched them word for word when they argued.

Finally, they gave in and put Hunter into the room across from Tris's, the only room left open in the house that also had access to the roof. It was grudging on Briar's part, but he just crossed his arms over his chest when they asked him what he thought.

"Do what you like," he told everyone else. "As long as Tris doesn't get kidnapped, I don't much care."

So Hunter moved in to the house. During the day, he went to his forge, but every night, he left the door into the hallway open so he could hear if anything was wrong on the third floor.

xXx

The next few days were quiet, but the entire house was on guard. Sandry had guards stationed at both entrances to the yard, and they locked all the doors and windows with their own magic, so it was nearly impossible for someone to get in.

Glaki was sent to Discipline, with a promise from Tris that she could return as soon as they figured out what had happened and who was behind this.

xXx

"You'll need stronger spells this time," the man said. "They've got another mage, and guards. You'll have to spell everyone this time, not just her." He pointed to his servant. "Do not fail, or the consequences will be steep."

The servant bowed. "Aye, master. I won't fail you this time."

"You'd better not."

xXx

Talia and Briar were at Discipline, helping Rosethorn in her garden, and Daja was visiting Frostpine at Winding Circle. Tris was up on the roof, scrying the wind. She saw Hunter going to his forge, and Daja returning from Winding Circle. Pulling visions from farther away, she saw Talia and Briar with Rosethorn at Discipline. Lark was weaving, Sandry by her side, infusing magic into whatever they were making. Glaki was giving Little Bear a bath.

Tris sighed and closed her eyes, blocking the visions. It had been a miracle that she was allowed to be at the house alone. It had been a major coup for her.

But now she was regretting it. Something just wasn't right. As a rope slid around her neck and things went dark, she tried to figure out what was wrong.

xXx

When Tris's mind went blank, Daja, Sandry and Briar all froze wherever they were. When they came to, they started shrieking Tris's name in their heads. When she didn't answer, they raised the alarm with everyone else. Daja ran to Hunter's forge while Sandry and Briar rode to Cheeseman Street. Talia stayed behind at Discipline with Glaki while Lark and Rosethorn tried to contact Niko, Tris's teacher.

xXx

Daja skidded to a halt in the doorway of Hunter's forge. "Tris is missing," she panted. Hunter immediately threw down his tools.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We don't know. Her mind shut down about five minutes ago. I came here. Briar and Sandry are meeting us at Cheeseman Street. We'll work from there."

Hunter and Daja trotted through the streets side by side. "We'll need more help," Hunter said.

Daja shook her head. "No, we won't. We've all got connections to Tris. Our minds, hers, mine, Sandry's and Briar's, are all connected. And you and she…We're not sure, but we know there's something there. We'll be enough."

Hunter ran a hand over his face as they entered the house. Briar and Sandry were waiting in the kitchen. When Hunter and Daja walked through the door, they both stood up. "Well? What now?" Sandry asked. "We're all here."

"We've got to find her," Hunter said. "We don't know what they want with her."

"Once we figure out who took her, we'll figure out who they work for, and then what they want," Briar said.

"You work on that, Briar," Daja said thoughtfully. "Once you find that out, you'll come with us to get her."

"But we can follow our connections!" Sandry said. "We can follow them straight to her!"

"Duchess, think," Briar said. "We can't go traipsing in there without knowing what to expect. We'd get killed and Tris would be stuck."

"So then what?"

"Well, I'll go work on that right now," Briar said. "And you three can start scouting out where she is? Don't go in, just watch."

Hunter let out an exasperated breath. He'd never felt more useless. He closed his eyes and opened up his magic, feeling for the strand that connected him to Tris. As soon as he had a solid lead, he turned on his heel.

"Hunter, wait!" Daja called after him.

He ignored her and kept walking. "Hunter!" Sandry's voice tried to call him back next. He shrugged it off, and turned the corner.

"You've got to stop." Briar's voice was last to chime in. He caught up to Hunter and grabbed the other man's arm. "She won't thank you if she can get out by herself."

"She won't thank us anyway," Hunter replied. "I can't just sit in there and not do anything."

"Yes, you can. I doubt Tris wants all of us to die trying to save her."

Hunter stopped walking and turned to Briar. His dark green eyes bore into Briar's gray-green ones. "If it was Talia, what would you do?" he asked quietly.

Briar's grip on Hunter's arm loosened. He sighed and said, "Fine. But you better not die. If you do, Tris will kill us all."

xXx

Tris came to slowly. She kept her eyes closed and threw out her power, trying to sense where she was. She didn't recognize the place, but she smelled salt and water, so she knew she was by the sea, closer than the Cheeseman Street house and Winding Circle were.

She heard two voices speaking softly, and tried to listen closer. "Nice job," the first man said. "You will be rewarded handsomely."

The second voice was too soft for her to hear, and she didn't have complete control over the winds yet, and she was wary of trying.

"Well, well, the mage awakens," the first voice said smugly. Tris's eyes flew open; he already knew she was awake. There was no use in pretending.

"What do you want with me?" Tris asked hoarsely.

The man leaned close and smiled wolfishly. "You have power, Trisana, power that most people only dream of."

Tris took in his appearance, trying to think if she knew him from somewhere. He had blonde hair, almost white, and eyes so light gray they were nearly white, too. He was so extraordinarily looking that Tris should have known if she'd ever seen him before, but she only had a vague impression of him.

She closed her eyes tightly for a second and reached out to her brother and sisters. They answered immediately. _Tris! Are you okay! Where are you? Who has you?_ They all spoke to her at once, and she quickly grew cross with it.

_I don't know. I'm all right. This is the man._ She sent out the picture of him in her mind, and opened her eyes so they could see him, too. _Do any of you know him?_

They thought, and the answer was a resounding _no._ They felt like they'd seen him before, but they couldn't place him. _Think about it,_ Tris said. _Where's Hunter?_

The others were quiet, and then Briar spoke. _He's coming after you,_ he said. _We all tried to stop him, but…_

Tris let out an internal sigh. _Stupid male,_ she muttered in her mind. _Let me know if you figure out where we know this man from._

_Talk to us often,_ Sandry said. _So that we know you're all right._

_Good luck, _saati, Daja said.

_Be careful, Coppercurls, _Briar murmured.

**A/N: Hi there guys! So, I want to let everyone know that there's going to be a competition created where you can nominate your favorite TP fanfics. Everyone will be allowed to vote on the stories nominated, and the top five from that vote will be judged by a group of TP fanfic writers (including me! :D) to come out with the winners. Get ready to nominate your favorite stories! I'll have more info tomorrow when I post, so you'll be able to get the whole story then! Thanks bunches! Please review, and love to all! Sarah**


	9. Weathermage

**A/N:** **Hi guys! I'm back! Thanks so much for the reviews, even though I'm not getting many *hint hint* ;D. Thanks to those who did, and thanks to Kate of Carlay for being a wonderful beta. PLEASE SEE MY A/N BELOW FOR ANOTHER MESSAGE ABOUT THE COMPETITION!**

Disclaimer: NOT TP!

**Chapter 9**

Hunter stopped following the thread that led him to Tris when he ended up in front of an empty looking building. He looked around; the street was totally empty. He stepped up to a dirty window and looked inside.

Tris was laying on a table, bound by her hands and wrists, and even from his perch, about fifty yards away, Hunter could see the glare she was directing at the men standing around her.

xXx

"I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish here," Tris drawled, seemingly unconcerned that she was bound to a table. "But this doesn't seem the wisest course of action, would you agree?"

"The ties bind your magic," the blond man said, seating himself on a stool near where Tris was laying.

"Ah. I see," Tris said, twisting her wrist under a particularly tight binding. "Could you perhaps loosen this one? It's cutting off my circulation. I don't think you want me to die while you're transporting me wherever I'm supposed to go, do you? Whoever hired you probably won't be very happy."

"Losing circulation wouldn't kill you," the blond man said, smirking.

"Probably not, but my arm will bruise. Bruises aren't flattering, especially when I'm free."

_So, are you three anywhere near? _Tris asked her brother and sisters in her head.

_On our way_, Briar replied. _Are you all right?_

_Fine, but I'm tied up, and I think I see Hunter in the window. The ties are spelled against my magic, but I guess they aren't against yours. At least, not from what he said._

_We'd have figured out a way to get you free no matter what, Coppercurls. This just simplifies things a bit._

"Her Imperial Majesty will be pleased." The voice was very soft, but Tris's exceptional hearing enabled her to hear, despite her powers being confined by her bindings.

"Are you talking about Empress Berenene?" Tris asked cautiously. Suddenly, her memory of the blond man returned.

She'd seen him in Namorn, in Empress Berenene's court. He'd always been in the shadows, and hardly anyone had seen him. Tris's eyes saw everything, though. _He's from Namorn!_ she called to her friends, disgustedly. She showed them what she remembered of him.

_I'll kill Berenene!_ Sandry muttered angrily. _I'll kill her!_

_Sandry, calm down,_ Daja said. _Let's get Tris, and then we'll figure out what to do about Berenene._

_We're coming, _Briar said.

"Her Imperial Highness will be pleased that I have succeeded where her great mages have failed." This was the blond man again.

"Who are you?" Tris asked.

"It's of no consequence to you, mage."

"No, of course not. I'm only the one you've captured. You're right. It's none of my business." Tris rolled her eyes and flexed her magic, interested to see if this man was telling the truth about the ties.

She was left breathless as her exertions came to nothing. The ties were spelled against her. Well, at least he wasn't trying to bluff his way out of this situation. Good to know, she supposed. She glanced at them, tweaking her vision so she could see any other magics easily.

It surprised and intrigued her that none of the ten or so men around her had even a little spark of magic. It was strange, that the people sent to capture a mage would not be mages themselves.

She passed that along to her brother and sisters, and they were also very surprised by this piece of news. They immediately started formulating a new plan, now that they knew.

_Someone tell Hunter?_ Tris asked, rolling her eyes. _I think I saw him outside._

xXx

"What have you found out?" Briar asked Hunter conversationally, leaning against the wall next to him.

Hunter jumped. "Not much. You?"

"They're from Namorn, but we don't know if they're on errand for Empress Berenene or not, and none of them are mages." Briar inspected his nails. "But that's about it. Tris told us all of that."

Hunter narrowed his eyes. "Tris told you?"

"Mind-speak. We've been able to since we were ten and our magics were woven together. Well, it's all of us. Me, Tris, Sandry and Daja. I thought you knew."

Hunter shrugged and didn't reply. "What's your plan, after you get her out of here?" Briar asked.

"What do you mean?"

"After you get her out of here. What are you planning on doing?"

"About what?" Hunter asked. "You know, I'm no so sure this is the right time to be talking about this."

"We've still got a few minutes," Briar told him. "Anyway, do you plan on marrying her? Or just playing with her head some more?"

Hunter looked confused. "You're asking me what my intentions are with Tris?"

Briar didn't say anything, just tapped his long fingers on the wood around the window. He pursed his lips and looked through the window.

"I've only known her a few days," Hunter murmured, copying Briar's movement.

"With me and Talia, that's all it took."

"It doesn't make sense," Hunter said, suppressing the urge to hit his forehead against the window.

"No," Briar agreed. "It doesn't, does it."

"I'll be around as long as she lets me," Hunter said quietly. He turned his head to look at Briar. "I can tell she's your favorite sister; I don't want to be on your bad side."

"If she's happy, I'm happy," Briar replied. Then he shifted. "All right. We're ready now."

Hunter frowned. "Ready? For what?"

"Sandry's about to go in. She'll distract them, and maybe weave their clothes together, and then we'll see after that. You'll get Tris untied, all right?"

"And if the ties are magicked against that?"

"You'll figure it out," Briar assured him, clapping a hand on Hunter's shoulder.

xXx

"Excuse me!" Sandry's voice rang out in the building. "Excuse me, what is going on in here?" she asked.

_There's her nobleness,_ Daja said, grinning from her place at Sandry's shoulder. She leaned on her Trader staff and waited.

"None of your business, lady," the blond man said, walking to stand in front of Sandry.

"I think you've got my friend in here, and I'd be very pleased if you'd let her go."

"Or what?" one of the blond's cronies asked, grinning.

Sandry lifted her nose in the air. "Or I'll have you arrested."

"By whom? Little miss, there's no one around. Just you and a Trader."

"Don't you know who I am?" If it was possible, Sandry's nose went even higher than before.

Outside, Briar was grinning absently as he laid his hands flat on the wood and let magic stream through. "What are you doing?" Hunter asked.

"If I can, I'll get the floorboards to grow and trip them up enough. If not, I'll pull the green life out of them and they'll fall through, if there's a basement."

"That doesn't seem safe," Hunter remarked. "Not with Tris, Sandry and Daja in there."

Briar smiled. "Which is why I won't do the whole floor," he said, as if he were explaining to a simpleton.

Hunter shot a glare at him, but the other man wasn't paying attention. His gaze was focused inside the building. Hunter rolled his eyes. "I'm going to free her," he said, and left Briar's side.

He went around the side of the building, trying to find another entrance. Finally, he climbed onto the roof and found a trapdoor. He dropped onto the top floor as quietly as he knew how and went down the stairs. They were situated at the back of the building, and no one was looking toward him. They were all staring at Sandry, who was talking about the torture she was going to inflict on them.

Hunter shook his head and quietly walked toward Tris, making sure no one saw him. When he was standing next to her, Tris looked over at him and raised a brow. "What took you so long?" she muttered and Hunter bent over her bindings.

Hunter grinned and got to work. The ties were easy to undo. They were only spelled against Tris's magic. Stupid, in Hunter's opinion, considering Tris's family. He untied them quickly, and the moment he did, the wind picked up in the building. Hunter's hair flapped in the breeze.

"All right, now we've got that taken care of," Sandry said from her place at the front of the building. She and Daja had been watching Hunter since they'd seen him come down the stairs. "I'll just be going."

"A pretty chit like you?" one of the men asked.

Sandry sighed. "I'll be going," she repeated, and started to walk out the door, Daja following her. One of the men reached out to grab Sandry's arm and got a whack on the wrist from Daja's Trader staff.

"None of that," she said, smiling. She and Sandry left the building, and the men turned around. Tris was standing quietly by the table they'd tied her to, her braids and clothes covered in lightning.

Hunter was standing next to her, waiting to see what would happen. "You should probably leave," Tris bit out to Hunter.

Hunter shrugged. "Might as well stay," he told her.

xXx

"What's she going to do?" Sandry asked Briar.

"Ask her yourself," Briar replied. His magic was held in the boards under the men's feet, waiting for the moment he might be needed.

Sandry rolled her eyes. _Tris? Tris, dear, what are you planning on doing? I can call Uncle and have guards down here to arrest them._

_I'm pretty sure Niko is on his way, _Daja replied.

_If Rosethorn and Lark found him,_ Briar intoned.

They all felt Tris's mental eyes roll at her teacher's name. _I won't kill them,_ she said. _Wouldn't risk it while Hunter and I are in here, too._

_This place is pretty stable,_ Briar told her. _You'd probably have to get an earthquake in order for it to fall._

Tris smirked. _Then that's what I'll need, don't you think?_ "Go make sure they can't leave," she told Hunter as she threw lightning around the men in a circle. They all backed into each other.

When Hunter came back, she let the men go and undid a braid. The room started shaking uncontrollably. Hunter stood at her shoulder, wondering what was going to happen. She seemed so angry, but he had to trust her.

"I won't let it hurt us," Tris murmured, flicking a glance upward at Hunter. She turned her attention back to the earthquake she was making, and forced it to concentrate right in the center of the men. As they tried to scramble away, she put up walls of lightning, forcing them to stay where they were.

Hunter watched, awestruck, as Tris made the room shake and the floorboards roll and creak. Then the hail started. It was small ice balls, at first, and they quickly grew in size as Tris unbraided another braid. The men were pelted with the ice until bruises and welts formed over their bodies, winds flew past them, knocking them over until they huddled on the ground, shaking with intense fear.

As she felt the quakes and hail strain at the limits she put on them Tris had to remind herself that, despite the anger pulsing through her still, she couldn't lose control; it would result in catastrophe. She looked once at Hunter, and her resolve grew. She would stop now, and let the guards come. Slowly, she stopped the hail and the rolling of the room, and the winds died down a little. She walked up to them with Hunter by her side, and looked down on their cowering bodies.

"Your Imperial Highness sent her greatest mage to incapacitate me with her worst spell so she wouldn't have to face me at the border." Her voice was quiet, but Hunter could hear the anger simmering just below the surface, even now. He was amazed that she could be so angry and yet be so calm. "If she couldn't stop me, what made you think you could?"

Hunter pulled a spool of wire from his pocket and held it up so Tris could see. She nodded and let her lightning shields down, and Hunter bound their wrists and ankles with it, enhancing it with his magic so they couldn't break free even if they tried.

Tris leaned back against one of the overturned boxes that were in the room, and watched as her brother and sisters stormed in. There were royal guards on their heels that rounded up the men who had kidnapped Tris.

While that was happening, Hunter made his way to Tris. "Are you scared of me now?" she asked wryly, looking up at him with weary and bloodshot eyes.

Slowly, he smiled, and shook his head. "No. But remind me never to get on your bad side." He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

Tris smiled when he pulled away. "You'll know if you do," she replied.

He nodded. "I know." He brushed a lock of her hair backward. "So much power," he whispered. "Some would be overwhelmed by it." He kissed her forehead. "But you just come back to me. You have no idea how happy that makes me, that you let me close to you."

Tris blushed, unable to help it. She wasn't entirely sure that she didn't love him. "I…" she trailed off.

"What?" Hunter pulled back enough to look into her eyes with his own.

She pursed her lips, and then answered. "I love you."

A grin grew on Hunter's lips, and he laughed delightedly. "Oh, Tris. I love you, too."

**A/N: Okay, guys, well this is the last actual chapter. Next chapter is the epilogue! Please review!**

**So, about the competition I mentioned last chapter! Please, everyone, go to www (dot) fanfiction (dot) net/forum/The_Ficship_Competitions/54838/. Please, please, nominate your favorite (completed) story and its author in a PM to me or one of the other moderators (Kate of Carlay, KrisEleven, xxTunstall Chickxx, LunaSphere, and Opal Roseblossom). Check out all the cool stuff up there! Please nominate your favorite story! Thanks bunches, and love to all of you, especially those who nominate! :D --Sarah**


	10. Epilogue

**A/N: Well, here it is. I'm still upset about the lack of reviews, but I suppose I can deal. Thanks to Kate of Carlay for being a fantastic beta for this story and KrisEleven for being willing to reassure me about my Tris :D. Thank you so much! Longer A/N at the bottom talks about sequels and where I'm going from here.**

Disclaimer: For the last time this story, I'm not TP.

**Epilogue**

"Who were they?" Hunter asked Tris as they watched the men being hauled away.

"They were working in the name of Empress Berenene," Tris replied. "I don't think she knew about it, though."

"Why not?"

"Why would she send someone to kidnap a mage who's already bested her once?" Tris asked, but it was clearly a rhetorical question. "I don't think she knew."

xXx

Not too much later, Tris and Hunter went with Sandry and the others to Duke's Citadel. "Hunter has to be introduced!" had been Sandry's reasoning, and no one fought her. Tris insisted on going to Cheeseman Street to change and fix her appearance and her braids, but they ended up at the Citadel in little time.

Almost immediately after they arrived, the doors slammed open and Niko strode through, demanding to see Tris.

After everything had been explained to him and he was a bit calmer, they introduced him to Hunter. Niko looked at the other man with an expression of surprise, but quickly masked it with his usual superior face.

Duke Vedris, accompanied by Sandry, came through the door next, smiling widely. "Well, now, today seems a happy occasion."

Sandry grinned at her uncle's side. "Uncle I want you to meet Hunter. Hunter, this is my Uncle Vedris."

Hunter bowed. "Your Grace, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"And you, my boy," Vedris said, eyeing the young man. "It's very good to meet someone Tris has taken a liking to."

Hunter glanced at Tris; she had a frown on her face and was turning pink.

xXx

As they talked, Hunter noticed the Duke growing more and more pale and weak. All at once, his breathing grew heavy. Sandry reached over to him, grabbing his hand when he didn't respond. "Uncle?" she said, and then stood. "He needs to be taken to his room," she said authoritatively.

Instantly, a few guards were there, and they carried the Duke to his room. "Tell us when you know," Tris said; she was very close to Duke Vedris, and so were her brother and sisters.

Sandry nodded. "As soon as I know," she replied, and hurried off, a worried look crossing her features.

The others looked around at each other, not sure of what to do. Niko was the first to rise. "I should be going," he said. "I've got to tell Lark and Rosethorn that you're all right, Tris," he told her.

"If Talia's still there, will you send her home?" Briar asked, rubbing his face with a hand.

Niko nodded and left the room after saying goodbye to Daja, his student, and Hunter.

"What now?" Daja asked.

"We wait," Briar replied.

"You should go back home," Daja said. "Care for your plants, and be with Talia."

"Who'll stay?" Tris asked. "I will."

Daja shook her head. "No. I will. You and Hunter go back to Cheeseman Street. You need rest, Tris. I'll tell you the moment I hear something, all right?"

After a few minutes of fighting, Tris and Briar agreed that Daja would stay. The Trader girl started to walk to another room, but Briar called her back. "Once we rest, it'll be your turn," he told her. She nodded without turning, and then kept walking.

xXx

Hunter and Tris left Briar on the way home. "I need to get something from my forge," Hunter said.

"I'll go with you," Tris replied. "We'll see you at home, Briar," she told her brother, and he nodded and continued on his way.

"What did you forget?" Tris asked.

"You'll see," Hunter replied.

When they got to his forge, Hunter took something off the table. "I finished it this morning, but then Daja came to get me," he told her, and then passed it to her.

It was a small copper flower that looked like it was feathered or something of the sort. "What is this?" she asked.

"It's called a globe amaranth," Hunter replied, leaning against a table.

"What does it mean?" Tris asked, looking up from her inspection.

Hunter grinned lazily. "Unfading love."

Tris smiled softly. "Thank you."

xXx

They decided to walk through the market for a bit before going home; Tris wanted to buy Chime, her glass dragon, some glass coloring as a treat, and she also wanted to buy a small gift for Glaki before the girl had to go back to Lightsbridge.

Just before they left the market, Tris and Hunter heard someone calling Hunter's name. They turned, and Hunter smiled. Tris looked at the girl approaching them with a frown.

She was very petite and thin, with long caramel colored hair cascading down her back. As she drew closer, Tris saw a hint of freckles on the bridge of her nose, and noticed that her sparkling eyes were a light hazel color.

"Chloe," Hunter acknowledged. "I haven't seen you in a while. How have you been?"

The girl smiled and waved a hand around. "Very well, thank you. Father has been trying to get me to marry, of course, but what else is new?" She chuckled softly, and her eyes wandered and came to rest on Tris. Her eyes opened wide, and she stuck out a hand. "I'm Chloe."

"This is Tris," Hunter said before Tris could growl something at the other girl.

Chloe's eyes lit with understanding. "Oh," she murmured. Then she laughed. "Hunter and I have been friends practically forever. My father is a merchant, and buys much of his metal goods from Hunter. And I think I know your sister in law? Talia?"

Tris's face relaxed, but only a little. Chloe shifted her weight from one foot to the other and then smiled up at Hunter. "Well, congratulations, Hunter," she told him. Tris had to admit, she sounded sincere.

"Thank you," Hunter replied, smiling. He grinned even wider at Tris when Chloe was gone. "Tris, she was telling the truth."

"I'm sure she was," Tris grunted, twirling the flower stem in her fingers.

"Then why are you sparking?" Hunter asked with a smile.

Tris glowered when she noticed he was right; the braids by her face were sparking with her lightning. She didn't say anything though.

"There's no need to be jealous," Hunter said.

"And why not?" Tris asked angrily. "Not that I'm jealous!"

"Of course not. You have no reason to be. I love you." Then he waved a hand, slightly embarrassed. "And anyway, she's…not interested in men."

Tris looked up sharply. "She isn't?"

Hunter shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "No. She doesn't like people to know."

Tris nodded, and her lightning faded. "Of course not." She began thinking. "Tell me about her."

Hunter looked over in surprise as they started their walk back to Cheeseman Street. "What do you want to know?"

Tris shrugged. "Anything."

Obligingly, Hunter told her all he knew. It filled the time they spent walking home. When they got there, Talia came to see who was entering the house. "Oh, it's you two," she said, grinning.

"I met Chloe," Tris said.

Talia looked confused, but her face cleared. "Such a sweetheart, isn't she?" she asked. "I think Daja would like her," she said more quietly, folding her hands in front of her as if she expected to be chastised for the thought.

Tris was pleased that she and Talia were on the same page about that. "Perhaps," she replied thoughtfully.

**A/N: Well, there you go! I hope you liked this story. Please review and make my day. I've really worked hard on this story and I'd like to know if you liked it or not.**

**Sequels: There are 2 more sequels in this series. Mending the Rift (Daja's story) will be next, followed by Sandry's story Growing From The Iron Will. But for now, I think I'll take some time away from the circle and go back to my Crow Legends series. The story continues with Naira's little brother Palen. Look for it soon.**

**Forum: Please, everyone, go visit the forum that I mod, and nominate your favorite TP fics. the address is www (dot) fanfiction (dot) net/forum/The_Ficship_Competitions/54838/. Please, go check it out. Who knows, you might find a new favorite story! :D Love to all! --Sarah**


	11. AN

Hi guys! The sequel to this story is up. It's called Mending the Rift, and you can find the link in my profile! Enjoy!

Sarah

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